Buffer status report enhancements for TCP flow

ABSTRACT

Technology for a user equipment (UE), operable to generate an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR) is disclosed. The UE can identify packets for uplink transmission. The UE can filter the packets for transmission, to identify a number of small packets pending for transmission and a number of larger packets, relative to the small packets, that are pending for transmission in the uplink transmission. The UE can encode the eBSR for transmission to a next generation node B (gNB), wherein the eBSR includes information identifying the number of small packets pending for transmission. The UE can have a memory interface configured to send to a memory the number of small packets pending for transmission.

BACKGROUND

Wireless systems typically include multiple User Equipment (UE) devicescommunicatively coupled to one or more Base Stations (BS). The one ormore BSs may be Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB) or NewRadio (NR) next generation NodeBs (gNB) that can be communicativelycoupled to one or more UEs by a Third-Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) network.

Next generation wireless communication systems are expected to be aunified network/system that is targeted to meet vastly different andsometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. New RadioAccess Technology (RAT) is expected to support a broad range of usecases including Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine TypeCommunication (mMTC), Mission Critical Machine Type Communication(uMTC), and similar service types operating in frequency ranges up to100 GHz.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example,features of the disclosure; and, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates signaling between applications in a user equipment(UE) and network protocol layer for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP),in accordance with an example;

FIG. 2 illustrates structure of enhanced Buffer Status Report (eBSR), inaccordance with an example;

FIG. 3 illustrates signaling of an uplink (UL) grant allocation patternrequest, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 4 illustrates an addition of one data radio bearer (DRB) per flowof quality of service (QoS) for TCP acknowledgment (ACK), in accordancewith an example;

FIG. 5 illustrates re-routing of TCP ACK to a higher priority DRB, inaccordance with an example;

FIG. 6 an addition of a common high priority DRB for TCP ACK of some orall QoS flow, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 7 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE), operable togenerate an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR), in accordance with anexample;

FIG. 8 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE), operable todetermine an uplink grant size and uplink grant occurrence frequency, inaccordance with an example;

FIG. 9 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE), operable fortransmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement(ACK) packet, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 10 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE), operable fortransmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement(ACK) packet in a selected data radio bearer (DRB), in accordance withan example;

FIG. 11 illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance with anexample;

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of a wireless device (e.g., UE) and a basestation (e.g., eNodeB) in accordance with an example;

FIG. 13 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry, inaccordance with an example; and

FIG. 14 illustrates a diagram of a wireless device (e.g., UE), inaccordance with an example.

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, andspecific language will be used herein to describe the same. It willnevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of thetechnology is thereby intended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the present technology is disclosed and described, it is to beunderstood that this technology is not limited to the particularstructures, process actions, or materials disclosed herein, but isextended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by thoseordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understoodthat terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describingparticular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. The samereference numerals in different drawings represent the same element.Numbers provided in flow charts and processes are provided for clarityin illustrating actions and operations and do not necessarily indicate aparticular order or sequence.

Example Embodiments

An initial overview of technology embodiments is provided below and thenspecific technology embodiments are described in further detail later.This initial summary is intended to aid readers in understanding thetechnology more quickly but is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the technology nor is it intended to limit thescope of the claimed subject matter.

Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards andprotocols to transmit data between a node (e.g., a transmission station)and a wireless device (e.g., a mobile device). Some wireless devicescommunicate using orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA)in a downlink (DL) transmission and single carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) in uplink (UL). Standards and protocols thatuse orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) for signaltransmission include the third generation partnership project (3GPP)long term evolution (LTE), the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard (e.g., 802.16e, 802.16m), which iscommonly known to industry groups as WiMAX (Worldwide interoperabilityfor Microwave Access), and the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is commonlyknown to industry groups as Wi-Fi.

In 3GPP radio access network (RAN) LTE systems (e.g., Release 13 andearlier), the node can be a combination of Evolved Universal TerrestrialRadio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node Bs (also commonly denoted as evolvedNode Bs, enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs) and Radio NetworkControllers (RNCs), which communicates with the wireless device, knownas a user equipment (UE). In 3GPP fifth generation (5G) LTEcommunication systems, the node is commonly referred to as a new radio(NR) or next generation Node B (gNodeB or gNB). The downlink (DL)transmission can be a communication from the node (e.g., eNodeB orgNodeB) to the wireless device (e.g., UE), and the uplink (UL)transmission can be a communication from the wireless device to thenode.

Wireless systems typically include multiple User Equipment (UE) devicescommunicatively coupled to one or more Base Stations (BS). The one ormore BSs may be Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB) or NewRadio (NR) next generation NodeBs (gNB) that can be communicativelycoupled to one or more UEs by a Third-Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) network. The UE can be one or more of a smart phone, a tabletcomputing device, a laptop computer, an internet of things (TOT) device,and/or another type of computing devices that is configured to providedigital communications.

As used herein, digital communications can include data and/or voicecommunications, as well as control information. As used herein, the term“Base Station (BS)” includes “Base Transceiver Stations (BTS),”“NodeBs,” “evolved NodeBs (eNodeB or eNB),” and/or “next generationNodeBs (gNodeB or gNB),” and refers to a device or configured node of amobile phone network that communicates wirelessly with UEs.

The present technology describes applications which provide reliabledata transfer that can rely on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).Further, there can be configurations to enhance the buffer status report(BSR) sent by the UE to the eNB to notify the number (or size) of TCPAcknowledgements (ACKs) pending in addition to the total size of datapending. In some embodiments, the TCP stack can generate TCP ACKs atdifferent ratios based on the received throughput. This typically cannotbe predicted very well by the gNB.

By notifying to the gNB of the amount of small packets (TCP ACK) andlarge packets (user data), the gNB has a better visibility on the amountand type of data pending on the UE side. The gNB can then allocate radioresources accordingly. The gNB can decide to allocate a series of shortgrants for a continuous transmission of TCP ACKs which are delaysensitive and can send less frequent but larger uplink (UL) grants totransmit user data in larger data packets (can be up to 1470 bytes perinternet protocol (IP) packet). Consequently, when the delivery of a ULTCP ACK is more regular (received more often, and in fewer bursts),better downlink (DL) throughput can be achieved. Transmitting the UL TCPACKs more frequently also leads to a better radio resource usage as themore frequent transmission avoids device overload in the case of a largegrant and reduces the risk to add large amounts of padding bits in thetransport block to be sent while data is still pending for transmission.The gNB can then determine a desired scheduling pattern to allocate ULradio resources to the UE.

TCP, is a “connection-oriented” data delivery service, such that two TCPconfigured devices can establish a TCP connection with each other toenable the communication of data between the two TCP devices. A devicemay refer to one or more of a client, a server, an application, a basestation, or several different variations of user equipment. In general,“data” may refer to TCP segments or bytes of data. In addition, TCP is afull duplex protocol. Therefore, each of the two TCP devices may supporta pair of data streams flowing in opposite directions. Therefore, afirst TCP device may communicate (i.e., send or receive) TCP segmentswith a second TCP device, and the second TCP device may communicate(i.e., send or receive) TCP segments with the first TCP device.

The sending TCP device may expect an acknowledgement (ACK) from thereceiving TCP device after the receiving TCP device receives the datafrom the sending TCP device. In other words, the receiving TCP devicemay communicate an ACK message to the sending TCP device after receivingthe TCP data transmission. If the ACK is not received within a timeoutinterval, then the TCP transmission may be retransmitted. Thus, if thesending TCP device does not receive the ACK message from the receivingTCP device within a timeout interval, then the sending TCP device mayre-communicate the TCP transmission to the receiving TCP device.

The ACK message communicated between the receiving TCP device and thesending TCP device may include the number of TCP transmission that thereceiving TCP device can receive from the sending TCP device beyond thelast received TCP transmission. In general, TCP devices may temporarilystore the TCP transmission received from the network element in a bufferbefore the TCP transmissions are communicated to a display device.

A typical IP packet size for TCP ACK size is 52 bytes in InternetProtocol Version 4 (IPv4). For high throughput, the IP packet for userdata is usually much larger. For example, the IP packet size for IP datacan be up to a maximum transmission unit (MTU) MTU size of 1470 bytes.Accordingly, the quantity of small packets that are pending can bedistinguished from the large packets that are pending for the gNB. Bydistinguishing the small packets from the large packets, the TCP ACKmessages in the small packets can be communicated more frequently,and/or at a higher priority level to better allocate the radio resourcesto the UE.

TCP data transfer is typically very sensitive to jitter and data lossthat is impacting the overall throughput. This is particularly visiblein a cellular network where the radio link quality can vary quickly. Inthe case of a bottleneck in uplink transmission, when the UE doesn'treceive enough of a grant indication or does not receive a grant fastenough, the UE has to buffer data. In one example, the TCP ACK can bereleased or dropped when it has aged to a predetermined time period. Inanother example, the TCP ACK and user data can consist of interleaving.With increasing throughput and new NR low latency specifications, the UEmay need to prepare data in advance for transmission. The UE has totradeoff between preparing data in advance to minimize processing timewhen an UL grant is received or do it at the last minute when the grantis received. When data is prepared at the last minute, the risk is thatnot all packets can be processed to fill in the transmission block (TB).If processing is done in advance, then the UE needs to determine a ratiobetween TCP ACK and other packets.

FIG. 1 illustrates signaling between applications in a user equipment(UE) at the network protocol layer for Transmission Control Protocol(TCP). In FIG. 1 an exemplary protocol layer model for TCP is shownincluding the UE (Client), the cellular network, and the Server. TCPprovides reliability by maintaining a running estimated average of theRound Trip Time (RTT) and its mean deviation, and by retransmitting anypacket, whose ACK is not received in a certain time. TCP operates on theassumption that all packet losses occur due to congestion only. Theoperation of TCP in wireless environments, e.g. in cellular networkssuch as LTE or 5G may result in significant performance degradation (interms of end-to-end delay and throughput) especially for applicationshaving high-data rate and low latency. For these kinds of applications,TCP has difficulties adapting also to the fluctuation of the underlyingradio channel conditions of the cellular radio link efficiently.

For instance, at a high downlink (DL) throughput, the UE can send manyTCP ACKs in an UL communication. The TCP ACKs in the UL are sent inparallel to any other user data transfer. In the case of congestion orfluctuation of the radio resources for the UL, the UE may not receiveenough resources allocated by the eNB to send all UL data. In addition,the sending of UL data can be delayed, leading to either a local drop ofa TCP ACK or to a bursty delivery of a TCP ACK. This jitter in TCP ACKsending in UL can lead to a degradation of the downlink (DL) TCPthroughput.

Another issue can occur when the UE receives a large UL grant from a gNBand many TCP ACKs are pending. In this case, the number of packets toprocess is relatively high due to the small size of the TCP ACKscompared with a size of the data IP packets. Prior to the physical layer(PHY) configurations, the protocol layers (Packet Data ConvergenceProtocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control(MAC)), are configured to cipher instructions and internal bufferdescriptors are processed per packet, thereby leading to a relativelyhigh central processing unit (CPU) load. When a sufficient number of TCPACKs are pending, a UE may not have enough resources to process all ofthe packets in the necessary time, and thus cannot send all the pendingTCP ACKs in the available radio resources. As a consequence, on the MAClayer, large amounts of padding bits are added in the transport block(TB) to be sent over the radio interface even though data is stillpending in the queue for transmission. This will lead to a waste ofradio resources due to the padding and the gNB will have to scheduleanother UL grant to the UE.

In view of the ongoing studies for LTE and new radio (NR, 5G),technology for improving the TCP performance is proposed by enhancingthe buffer status reporting from the UE to the gNB.

FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of an enhanced Buffer Status Report(eBSR). The eBSR can contain a count value 220 or a total size ofpending small packets. Considering the small size of the packet, a countvalue 220 can be a valid alternative, especially if a filter type isused to identify the number of small packets and the packet type can beprecisely identified (such as TCP ACK). In FIG. 2 an exemplary structureof an eBSR is shown. In the example, the length of the eBSR is 1 byte,containing 2 bits of Logical Channel Group Identification (LCG ID) 210.The LCG ID can be used for identifying the group of logical channel(s)to which the buffer status is being reported. The eBSR can furthercomprise 6 bits of count value 220. The count value 220 can indicate anumber of packets with a size less than X bytes. The value of X can be apositive integer. The value of X can be locally configured in the UE orconfigured by the gNB. In an alternative embodiment, the count value 220can indicate the total size of pending small packets. For example, thenumber of bits or bytes in the pending small packets.

FIG. 3 illustrates signaling of an uplink (UL) grant allocation patternrequest. Based on an eBSR, the gNB 320 can optimize the allocation ofthe UL grant size and the UL grant occurrence. In one example, if thepending packets are relatively large, and are less delay sensitive,large uplink grants can be allocated with less timing constraints. In analternative example, if small and delay sensitive packets are pending,relatively small grants can be allocated but with a higher frequency.

In accordance with a further enhancement, the UE can request the eNB fora UL grant allocation pattern based on the measured DL TCP throughputand TCP ACK ratio. The UE 310 can estimate the average DL TCP throughputand determine the corresponding generated TCP ACKs in the uplink. Thenumber of ACKs can directly be provided by the TCP stack or the cellularprotocol stack in the UE 310. Alternatively, the UE 310 can determinethe number of TCP ACKs by counting the number of TCP ACKs transmittedover the air. The UE 310 can then assume that, in the next time window,for instance in the next 10 ms, the DL TCP throughput and correspondingUL TCP ACK generation will remain substantially the same. The UE 310 cangenerate and send a “UL grant allocation pattern request” message to theeNB 320 to indicate the number of TCP ACKs to be sent in the next, forexample 10 ms, time window and the desired UL grant pattern. The eNB 320can then autonomously allocate the corresponding UL grant(s) for thenext 10 ms. The UE 310 can generate a periodic “UL grant allocationpattern request” to regularly update the eNB 320 of the amount of TCPACKs and the desired UL grant pattern. The period of this message aswell as the time window (in this example, 10 ms) to compute the amountof expected UL TCP ACKs can be configured by the eNB 320.

The UL grant allocation pattern request can be sent as a MAC controlelement (CE) or a radio resource control (RRC) message to the eNB 320.The UL grant allocation pattern request can be incorporated in of anenhanced BSR, as described above. Alternatively, the UL grant allocationpattern request can comprise a bitmap of length x bits, where x is apositive integer, e.g. 10 bits or 40 bits. Each bit in the bitmap cancorrespond to a subframe of 1 ms. A value of 0 in the bitmap canindicate that an UL grant is not requested to be allocated in thecorresponding subframe. A value of 1 in the bitmap can indicate that anUL grant is requested to be allocated in the corresponding subframe, orvice versa. With the requested UL grant allocation pattern, the UE 310can indicate in advance to the eNB 320 the amount of resources needed inUL to transmit the UL grant.

Detection of TCP ACK

For a given QoS flow, the UE can determine the TCP ACK by using animplementation specific process, such as packet inspection, or using afilter configured by the next generation node B (gNB) or NR (new radio)core network.

In one embodiment, in case of implementation specific detection, the UEcan check the ACK bit in the flag field of the TCP header to detect aTCP ACK. Additional parameters can be used for filtering, such as aprotocol type or a packet size. The protocol type or packet size may beused, for instance, if the ACK bit is not sufficiently based on a TCPstack or a network behavior or if the UE is configured to prioritizeonly particular TCP ACKs. For instance, the UE can be configured toprioritize only TCP ACKs in small packets and not TCP ACKs thatpiggybacked in a larger data packet.

In one embodiment, in the case of a filter that is configured by thenetwork, the network can provide a detection pattern using traffic flowtemplates (TFT) or a bitmask. This would give the flexibility for thenetwork to prioritize TCP ACKs or other messages.

Prioritization of TCP ACK

There are further examples and subsequent embodiments disclosed todisclose a process for prioritization of TCP ACKs in transmission of theair interface to reduce the delay of TCP ACK transmissions and minimizethe risk of TCP ACK filtering (drop of data). Further, processes aredisclosed to detect an ACK and transmit the ACK on a higher priorityDRB. In certain embodiments, having a dedicated DRB with higher priorityfor a transmission of TCP ACKs versus normal data can help to reduceRound Trip Time (RTT) for TCP communication.

In one embodiment, when a high priority DRB is used for transmission ofTCP ACKs (compared to normal data), the logical channel prioritizationapplied in the UL by the UE will result in TCP ACKs being prioritizedover normal data and sent in the UL when the UL grant is not sufficientfor both data and the TCP ACKs. The use of a high priority DRB fortransmitting TCP ACKs gives more control to the gNB on the dataprioritization and allows more consistency in the TCP traffic betweenall UE manufacturers.

In one embodiment, the gNB can obtain more visibility on the number ofACKs pending using a BSR ID within the TCP ACK transmission that cancorrespond to a dedicated radio bearer. This will help the gNB to betterschedule the UL resource allocation.

In one embodiment, having a dedicated DRB for TCP ACK transmission canenable a compression algorithm, such as robust header compression (RoHC)for a TCP ACK DRB only, hence avoiding unnecessary processing time dueto RoHC compression of normal user data.

In one embodiment, there can be an instance where no delay is introducedto PDCP re-ordering on the receiver side. If a dedicated DRB is used forTCP ACK, a missing user data packet will not delay the delivery of theTCP ACK to a TCP stack. In order to improve TCP ACK prioritization, thedevice can detect a TCP ACK for a specific flow and send with a bearer(either a new bearer or an existing one) with a higher priority.

FIG. 4 illustrates an addition of one data radio bearer (DRB) per flowof quality of service (QoS) for TCP acknowledgments (ACKs). FIG. 4illustrates one or more TCP flows per QoS flow, a TCP ACK filteringmodule, and one or more corresponding DRB QoS Flows. Each of themodules, such as the TCP ACK filtering module, and the flows areconfigured and operable to route or transmit user data and TCP ACKs tothe appropriate DRB radio bearer, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In one embodiment, there can be a creation of a new DRB dedicated for“TCP ACK” per QoS flow DRB. For example, if a TCP flow is present in aQoS flow, another DRB with a higher priority is associated to the mainQoS DRB.

FIG. 5 illustrates re-routing of TCP ACKs to a higher priority DRB. Theillustrated flow comprises one or more TCP flows per QoS flow, a TCP ACKfiltering module, and one or more corresponding DRB QoS Flows. Each ofthe modules and flows are configured and operable to route or transmituser data and TCP ACKs.

In one embodiment there can be a reuse of a higher priority DRB for TCPACKs of some or all QoS flows, if the higher priority DRB is available.In this example, higher priority data packets can also be directed tothe higher priority DRB. With this approach, the TCP ACKs can betransmitted in the DRB with a higher, or the highest priority. Inanother alternative, the gNB can indicate which existing DRB is to beused for transmission of TCP ACKs.

FIG. 6 provides an example illustration of a common high priority DRBfor transmission of TCP ACKs of some or all QoS flows. The illustratedflow comprises one or more TCP flows per QoS flow, a TCP ACK filteringmodule, and one or more corresponding DRB QoS Flows. Each of the modulesand flows are configured and operable to route or transmit user data andTCP ACK.

In one embodiment, a new DRB can be added for dedicated TCP ACKtransmission of TCP ACKs of all QoS flows. With this approach, the gNBor NR network can create a DRB for all TCP ACKs of all QoS flows.

In another embodiment, the QoS model for 5G with next generation (NG)Core allows gNBs (network RAN) to set up DRBs without involvement of theother network nodes. gNBs can hence set up the DRB for TCP ACKs on itsown.

In another embodiment, the gNB can also configure, with RRC signaling,for which QoS flow DRB the TCP ACK prioritization is allowed.

In an alternative embodiment, the core network (CN) can also provide thefilters for TCP ACKs and request the setup of a higher priority QoS flowwhich then results in the gNB setting up the higher priority DRB. Thisconfiguration can be performed using non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

In one embodiment, when receiving data, the gNB can use a flow id toroute the received packet to the right user-plane function.

In one embodiment, a combination of dropping of some TCP ACKs with theprioritization of some other TCP ACKs can also be used to provide foroptimal TCP performance.

FIG. 7 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE) 700, operable togenerate an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR). The UE can compriseone or more processors configured to identify packets for uplinktransmission 710. The UE can comprise one or more processors configuredto filter the packets for uplink transmission, to identify a number ofsmall packets pending for transmission and a number of larger packets,relative to the small packets, that are pending for transmission in theuplink transmission 720. The UE can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to encode the eBSR for transmission to a next generation nodeB (gNB), wherein the eBSR includes information identifying the number ofsmall packets pending for transmission 730.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured tofilter the packets for uplink transmission to identify transmissioncontrol protocol (TCP) acknowledgement (ACK) packets in the packets foruplink transmission.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured tofilter the packets for uplink transmission to identify packets with apacket size less than X bytes as the small packets that are pending fortransmission in the uplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greaterthan 0.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured toencode the eBSR for transmission to the gNB wherein the eBSR includes alogic channel group (LCG) identification (ID) and a count value, whereinthe count value includes one or more of: a number of packets with apacket size less than X bytes as the small packets that are pending fortransmission in the uplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greaterthan 0; or a total size of the number of small packets pending fortransmission.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todecode from the gNB a reporting method for the eBSR, wherein thereporting method comprises one or more of the total size or the numberof packets.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todecode an uplink (UL) grant received from the gNB, wherein a size of theUL grant and a frequency of the UL grant are determined by the gNB basedon the information in the eBSR to identify the number of small packetspending for transmission.

FIG. 8 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE) 800, operable todetermine an uplink grant size and uplink grant occurrence frequency.The UE can comprise one or more processors configured to calculate adownlink (DL) transmission control protocol (TCP) throughput based on anumber of TCP acknowledgements (ACKs) at the UE for a selected timeperiod 810. The UE can comprise one or more processors configured toencode a request from the UE to a next generation node B (gNB) for anuplink (UL) grant allocation pattern based on the TCP ACK ratio for anext selected time period 820. The UE can comprise one or moreprocessors configured to decode an uplink grant allocation from the gNBbased on the UL grant allocation pattern 830.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured tocalculate the number of TCP ACKs at the UE from one or more of: a TCPstack; or a cellular protocol stack configured to determine the numberof TCP ACKs transmitted from the gNB.

In one embodiment, the next time period is equal to the selected timeperiod.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured toencode the request for the UL grant allocation pattern at a selectedfrequency.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todecode the selected time period and the selected frequency received fromthe gNB.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured toencode the request for the UL grant allocation pattern to be sent to thegNB using one or more of: a media access control (MAC) control element(CE); or a radio resource control (RRC) message.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured toencode the request for the UL grant allocation pattern to be sent to thegNB, wherein the UL grant allocation pattern comprises: an enhancedbuffer status report (eBSR); or a bitmap configured to indicate when anUL grant is requested for selected subframes.

FIG. 9 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE) 900, operable fortransmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement(ACK) packet. The UE can comprise one or more processors configured toidentify a Quality of Service (QoS) flow associated with one or more TCPflows 910. The UE can comprise one or more processors configured todetect user data in the one or more TCP flows associated with the QoSflow, for uplink transmission by the UE 920. The UE can comprise one ormore processors configured to detect TCP ACK packets, associated withdownlink packets received at the UE, in the one or more TCP flowsassociated with the QoS flow 930. The UE can comprise one or moreprocessors configured to encode the user data for transmission from theUE to a next generation node B (gNB) in a first data radio bearer (DRB)with a first priority level associated with the QoS flow 940. The UE cancomprise one or more processors configured to encode the TCP ACK packetsfor transmission to the gNB, in a second DRB with a second prioritylevel that is greater than the first priority level 950.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured tofilter a plurality of QoS flows, wherein each QoS flow includes a firstDRB for user data and a second DRB for TCP ACK packets, with the secondDRB having a higher priority than the first DRB.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todetect the TCP ACK packets using one or more of: an ACK bit in a flagfield of a TCP header; a protocol type; or a packet size of data packetsin the QoS flow relative to a packet size of the TCP ACK packets.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todetect the TCP ACK packets by filtering using one or more of: adetection pattern using a traffic flow template (TFT); or a bitmask.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured toidentify a plurality of QoS flows, wherein each QoS flow is associatedwith a user data DRB; detect the TCP ACK packets associated with thedownlink packets received at the UE in the one or more TCP flowsassociated with the plurality of QoS flows; encode the TCP ACK packets,associated with the plurality of QoS flows, for transmission to the gNBin a dedicated DRB having a priority level that is greater than apriority level of the user data DRBs associated with each QoS flow.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todecode radio resource control (RRC) signaling indicating for which ofthe plurality of QoS flows that TCP ACK prioritization is allowed.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todecode non access stratum (NAS) signaling indicating a setup of a higherpriority QoS flow associated with a higher priority DRB used to transmitthe TCP ACK packets.

FIG. 10 depicts functionality of a user equipment (UE) 1000, operablefor transmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP)acknowledgement (ACK) packet in a selected data radio bearer (DRB). TheUE can comprise one or more processors configured to identify aplurality of Quality of Service (QoS) flows, wherein each QoS flow isassociated with one or more TCP flows 1010. The UE can comprise one ormore processors configured to detect user data in the one or more TCPflows associated with the plurality of QoS flows, for uplinktransmission by the UE 1020. The UE can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to detect TCP ACK packets, associated with downlink packetsreceived at the UE, in the one or more TCP flows associated with theplurality of QoS flows 1030. The UE can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to encode the user data for transmission from the UE to anext generation node B (gNB) in a DRB associated with a QoS flow of theuser data in the plurality of QoS flows 1040. The UE can comprise one ormore processors configured to encode the TCP ACK packets fortransmission from the UE to the gNB, with a selected DRB in a pluralityof DRBs 1050.

In one embodiment, the selected DRB is a DRB with a highest priority inthe plurality of DRBs.

In one embodiment, the selected DRB is selected by the gNB andcommunicated to the UE.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todetect the TCP ACK packets using one or more of: an ACK bit in a flagfield of a TCP header; a protocol type; or a packet size of data packetsin each QoS flow relative to a packet size of the TCP ACK packets.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors are further configured todetect the TCP ACK packets by filtering using one or more of: adetection pattern using a traffic flow template (TFT); or a bitmask.

FIG. 11 illustrates architecture of a system 1100 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments. The system 1100 is shown to include auser equipment (UE) 1101 and a UE 1102. The UEs 1101 and 1102 areillustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computingdevices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may alsocomprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as PersonalData Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers,wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wirelesscommunications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 1101 and 1102 can comprise anInternet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layerdesigned for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UEconnections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such asmachine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) forexchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobilenetwork (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device(D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTCexchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoTnetwork describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquelyidentifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internetinfrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may executebackground applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates,etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 1101 and 1102 may be configured to connect, e.g.,communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 1110—the RAN1110 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Next Gen RAN(NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 1101 and 1102 utilizeconnections 1103 and 1104, respectively, each of which comprises aphysical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detailbelow); in this example, the connections 1103 and 1104 are illustratedas an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can beconsistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol,a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR)protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 1101 and 1102 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 1105. The ProSe interface 1105may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 1102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)1106 via connection 1107. The connection 1107 can comprise a localwireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1106 would comprise a wireless fidelity(WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 1106 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to the core network of the wirelesssystem (described in further detail below).

The RAN 1110 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 1103 and 1104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred toas base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), ne8 GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 1110 mayinclude one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RANnode 1111, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells orpicocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power(LP) RAN node 1112.

Any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 1101 and1102. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 canfulfill various logical functions for the RAN 1110 including, but notlimited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radiobearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource managementand data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 1101 and 1102 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limitedto, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 to the UEs 1101and 1102, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. Thegrid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid ortime-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in thedownlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is acommon practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radioresource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource gridcorresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively.The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to oneslot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resourcegrid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises anumber of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certainphysical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises acollection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this mayrepresent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can beallocated. There are several different physical downlink channels thatare conveyed using such resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 1101 and 1102. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 1101 and 1102 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 1111 and1112 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs1101 and 1102. The downlink resource assignment information may be senton the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1101 and 1102.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above,each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 1110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 1120—via an S1 interface 1113. In embodiments, the CN 1120 may bean evolved packet core (EPC) network, a Next Gen Packet Core (NPC)network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface1113 is split into two parts: the S1-U interface 1114, which carriestraffic data between the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 and the serving gateway(S-GW) 1122, and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 1115,which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 1111 and 1112 andMMEs 1121.

In this embodiment, the CN 1120 comprises the MMEs 1121, the S-GW 1122,the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 1123, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 1124. The MMEs 1121 may be similar in function to thecontrol plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 1121 may manage mobility aspects inaccess such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. TheHSS 1124 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The CN 1120 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 1124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 1124 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc.

The S-GW 1122 may terminate the S1 interface 1113 towards the RAN 1110,and routes data packets between the RAN 1110 and the CN 1120. Inaddition, the S-GW 1122 may be a local mobility anchor point forinter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPPmobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging,and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 1123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 1123may route data packets between the EPC network 1123 and externalnetworks such as a network including the application server 1130(alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an InternetProtocol (IP) interface 1125. Generally, the application server 1130 maybe an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources withthe core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS dataservices, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 1123 is shown to becommunicatively coupled to an application server 1130 via an IPcommunications interface 1125. The application server 1130 can also beconfigured to support one or more communication services (e.g.,Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, groupcommunication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs1101 and 1102 via the CN 1120.

The P-GW 1123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 1126 isthe policy and charging control element of the CN 1120. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF1126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 1130 viathe P-GW 1123. The application server 1130 may signal the PCRF 1126 toindicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality ofService (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 1126 may provision thisrule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown)with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class ofidentifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified bythe application server 1130.

FIG. 12 illustrates example components of a device 1200 in accordancewith some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 1200 may includeapplication circuitry 1202, baseband circuitry 1204, Radio Frequency(RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208, one or moreantennas 1210, and power management circuitry (PMC) 1212 coupledtogether at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device1200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, thedevice 1200 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilizeapplication circuitry 1202, and instead include a processor/controllerto process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, thedevice 1200 may include additional elements such as, for example,memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O)interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may beincluded in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may beseparately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN)implementations).

The application circuitry 1202 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 1202 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsor operating systems to run on the device 1200. In some embodiments,processors of application circuitry 1202 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 1204 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 1204 may include one or more baseband processors orcontrol logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signalpath of the RF circuitry 1206 and to generate baseband signals for atransmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1206. Baseband processingcircuitry 1204 may interface with the application circuitry 1202 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 1206. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 1204 may include a third generation (3G) basebandprocessor 1204A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1204B, afifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1204C, or other basebandprocessor(s) 1204D for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation(2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 1204 (e.g.,one or more of baseband processors 1204A-D) may handle various radiocontrol functions that enable communication with one or more radionetworks via the RF circuitry 1206. In other embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of baseband processors 1204A-D may be included inmodules stored in the memory 1204G and executed via a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) 1204E. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 1204 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 1204 may include convolution, tail-bitingconvolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulationand encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples andmay include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may include one or moreaudio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 1204F. The audio DSP(s) 1204Fmay be include elements for compression/decompression and echocancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in otherembodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitablycombined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a samecircuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all ofthe constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1204 and theapplication circuitry 1202 may be implemented together such as, forexample, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1204 is configured tosupport radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may bereferred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 1206 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 1206 may include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 1208 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 1204. RF circuitry 1206 may also include a transmit signalpath which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals providedby the baseband circuitry 1204 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 1208 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1206may include mixer circuitry 1206 a, amplifier circuitry 1206 b andfilter circuitry 1206 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal pathof the RF circuitry 1206 may include filter circuitry 1206 c and mixercircuitry 1206 a. RF circuitry 1206 may also include synthesizercircuitry 1206 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 1206 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signalpath. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 1206 d. The amplifier circuitry 1206 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 1206 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter(BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals maybe provided to the baseband circuitry 1204 for further processing. Insome embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a necessity. In some embodiments,mixer circuitry 1206 a of the receive signal path may comprise passivemixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1206 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1208. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1204 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 1206 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1206 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 1206 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1206 a may be arranged fordirect downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 1206 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry1204 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 1206.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1206 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1206 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1206 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1206 a of the RFcircuitry 1206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1206 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a necessity. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1204 orthe applications processor 1202 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 1202.

Synthesizer circuitry 1206 d of the RF circuitry 1206 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1206 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1206 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 1208 may include a receive signal path which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 1210, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1206 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 1206 for transmission by oneor more of the one or more antennas 1210. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 1206, solely in the FEM 1208, or in both theRF circuitry 1206 and the FEM 1208.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA toamplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1206). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1206), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission(e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1210).

In some embodiments, the PMC 1212 may manage power provided to thebaseband circuitry 1204. In particular, the PMC 1212 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 1212 may often be included when the device 1200 iscapable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE. The PMC 1212 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 12 shows the PMC 1212 coupled only with the basebandcircuitry 1204. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 1212 may beadditionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar powermanagement operations for, other components such as, but not limited to,application circuitry 802, RF circuitry 1206, or FEM 1208.

In some embodiments, the PMC 1212 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the device 1200. For example, if thedevice 1200 is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected tothe RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may entera state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period ofinactivity. During this state, the device 1200 may power down for briefintervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the device 1200 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1200 goes into avery low power state and it performs paging where again it periodicallywakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device1200 may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, itcan transition back to RRC Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable tothe network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging fromseconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totallyunreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sentduring this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay isacceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 1202 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1204 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 1204, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 1204 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 13 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 1204 of FIG. 12 may comprise processors 1204A-1204E and amemory 1204G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors1204A-1204E may include a memory interface, 1304A-1304E, respectively,to send/receive data to/from the memory 1204G.

The baseband circuitry 1204 may further include one or more interfacesto communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memoryinterface 1312 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memoryexternal to the baseband circuitry 1204), an application circuitryinterface 1314 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from theapplication circuitry 1202 of FIG. 12), an RF circuitry interface 1316(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 1206 ofFIG. 12), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 1318 (e.g., aninterface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi®components, and other communication components), and a power managementinterface 1320 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or controlsignals to/from the PMC 1212.

FIG. 14 provides an example illustration of the wireless device, such asa user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile wireless device,a mobile communication device, a tablet, a handset, or other type ofwireless device. The wireless device can include one or more antennasconfigured to communicate with a node, macro node, low power node (LPN),or, transmission station, such as a base station (BS), an evolved Node B(eNB), a baseband processing unit (BBU), a remote radio head (RRH), aremote radio equipment (RRE), a relay station (RS), a radio equipment(RE), or other type of wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point.The wireless device can be configured to communicate using at least onewireless communication standard such as, but not limited to, 3GPP LTE,WiMAX, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Bluetooth, and WiFi. Thewireless device can communicate using separate antennas for eachwireless communication standard or shared antennas for multiple wirelesscommunication standards. The wireless device can communicate in awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN), and/or a WWAN. The wireless device can also comprise a wirelessmodem. The wireless modem can comprise, for example, a wireless radiotransceiver and baseband circuitry (e.g., a baseband processor). Thewireless modem can, in one example, modulate signals that the wirelessdevice transmits via the one or more antennas and demodulate signalsthat the wireless device receives via the one or more antennas.

FIG. 14 also provides an illustration of a microphone and one or morespeakers that can be used for audio input and output from the wirelessdevice. The display screen can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen,or other type of display screen such as an organic light emitting diode(OLED) display. The display screen can be configured as a touch screen.The touch screen can use capacitive, resistive, or another type of touchscreen technology. An application processor and a graphics processor canbe coupled to internal memory to provide processing and displaycapabilities. A non-volatile memory port can also be used to providedata input/output options to a user. The non-volatile memory port canalso be used to expand the memory capabilities of the wireless device. Akeyboard can be integrated with the wireless device or wirelesslyconnected to the wireless device to provide additional user input. Avirtual keyboard can also be provided using the touch screen.

Examples

The following examples pertain to specific technology embodiments andpoint out specific features, elements, or actions that can be used orotherwise combined in achieving such embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) operable togenerate an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR), the apparatuscomprising: one or more processors configured to: identify packets foruplink transmission; filter the packets for uplink transmission, toidentify a number of small packets pending for transmission and a numberof larger packets, relative to the small packets, that are pending fortransmission in the uplink transmission; and encode the eBSR fortransmission to a next generation node B (gNB), wherein the eBSRincludes information identifying the number of small packets pending fortransmission; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory thenumber of small packets pending for transmission.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to filter the packets for uplinktransmission to identify transmission control protocol (TCP)acknowledgement (ACK) packets in the packets for uplink transmission.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1 or 2, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to filter the packets for uplinktransmission to identify packets with a packet size less than X bytes asthe small packets that are pending for transmission in the uplinktransmission, wherein X is an integer greater than 0.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1 or 2, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to encode the eBSR fortransmission to the gNB wherein the eBSR includes a logic channel group(LCG) identification (ID) and a count value, wherein the count valueincludes one or more of: a number of packets with a packet size lessthan X bytes as the small packets that are pending for transmission inthe uplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greater than 0; or atotal size of the number of small packets pending for transmission.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to decode from the gNB a reportingmethod for the eBSR, wherein the reporting method comprises one or moreof the total size or the number of packets.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1 or 2, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to decode an uplink (UL) grantreceived from the gNB, wherein a size of the UL grant and a frequency ofthe UL grant are determined by the gNB based on the information in theeBSR to identify the number of small packets pending for transmission.

Example 7 includes an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), operable todetermine an uplink grant size and uplink grant occurrence frequency,the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to:calculate a downlink (DL) transmission control protocol (TCP) throughputbased on a number of TCP acknowledgements (ACKs) at the UE for aselected time period; encode a request from the UE to a next generationnode B (gNB) for an uplink (UL) grant allocation pattern based on theTCP ACK ratio for a next selected time period; and decode an uplinkgrant allocation from the gNB based on the UL grant allocation pattern;and a memory interface configured to send to a memory the UL grantallocation pattern.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 7, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to calculate the number of TCP ACKs atthe UE from one or more of: a TCP stack; or a cellular protocol stackconfigured to determine the number of TCP ACKs transmitted from the gNB.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of example 7 or 8, wherein the nexttime period is equal to the selected time period.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of example 7, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to encode the request for the UL grantallocation pattern at a selected frequency.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to decode the selected time period andthe selected frequency received from the gNB.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of example 7 or 10, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to encode the request for the ULgrant allocation pattern to be sent to the gNB using one or more of: amedia access control (MAC) control element (CE); or a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) message.

Example 13 includes the apparatus of example 7, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to encode the request for the UL grantallocation pattern to be sent to the gNB, wherein the UL grantallocation pattern comprises: an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR);or a bitmap configured to indicate when an UL grant is requested forselected subframes.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of a user equipment (UE), operable fortransmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement(ACK) packet, the apparatus comprising: one or more processorsconfigured to: identify a Quality of Service (QoS) flow associated withone or more TCP flows; detect user data in the one or more TCP flowsassociated with the QoS flow, for uplink transmission by the UE; detectTCP ACK packets, associated with downlink packets received at the UE, inthe one or more TCP flows associated with the QoS flow; encode the userdata for transmission from the UE to a next generation node B (gNB) in afirst data radio bearer (DRB) with a first priority level associatedwith the QoS flow; encode the TCP ACK packets for transmission to thegNB, in a second DRB with a second priority level that is greater thanthe first priority level; and a memory interface configured to send to amemory the user data.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to filter a plurality of QoS flows,wherein each QoS flow includes a first DRB for user data and a secondDRB for TCP ACK packets, with the second DRB having a higher prioritythan the first DRB.

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 14 or 15, wherein the oneor more processors are further configured to detect the TCP ACK packetsusing one or more of: an ACK bit in a flag field of a TCP header; aprotocol type; or a packet size of data packets in the QoS flow relativeto a packet size of the TCP ACK packets.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 14 or 16, wherein the oneor more processors are further configured to detect the TCP ACK packetsby filtering using one or more of: a detection pattern using a trafficflow template (TFT); or a bitmask.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to: identify a plurality of QoS flows,wherein each QoS flow is associated with a user data DRB; detect the TCPACK packets associated with the downlink packets received at the UE inthe one or more TCP flows associated with the plurality of QoS flows;encode the TCP ACK packets, associated with the plurality of QoS flows,for transmission to the gNB in a dedicated DRB having a priority levelthat is greater than a priority level of the user data DRBs associatedwith each QoS flow.

Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to decode radio resource control (RRC)signaling indicating for which of the plurality of QoS flows that TCPACK prioritization is allowed.

Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to decode non access stratum (NAS)signaling indicating a setup of a higher priority QoS flow associatedwith a higher priority DRB used to transmit the TCP ACK packets.

Example 21 includes an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), operable fortransmission of a transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement(ACK) packet in a selected data radio bearer (DRB), the apparatuscomprising: one or more processors configured to: identify a pluralityof Quality of Service (QoS) flows, wherein each QoS flow is associatedwith one or more TCP flows; detect user data in the one or more TCPflows associated with the plurality of QoS flows, for uplinktransmission by the UE; detect TCP ACK packets, associated with downlinkpackets received at the UE, in the one or more TCP flows associated withthe plurality of QoS flows; encode the user data for transmission fromthe UE to a next generation node B (gNB) in a DRB associated with a QoSflow of the user data in the plurality of QoS flows; encode the TCP ACKpackets for transmission from the UE to the gNB, with a selected DRB ina plurality of DRBs; and a memory interface configured to send to amemory the user data.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 21, wherein the selectedDRB is a DRB with a highest priority in the plurality of DRBs.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 21 or 22, wherein theselected DRB is selected by the gNB and communicated to the UE.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of example 21, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to detect the TCP ACK packets usingone or more of: an ACK bit in a flag field of a TCP header; a protocoltype; or a packet size of data packets in each QoS flow relative to apacket size of the TCP ACK packets.

Example 25 includes the apparatus of example 21 or 24, wherein the oneor more processors are further configured to detect the TCP ACK packetsby filtering using one or more of: a detection pattern using a trafficflow template (TFT); or a bitmask.

Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take theform of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media,such as floppy diskettes, compact disc-read-only memory (CD-ROMs), harddrives, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, or any othermachine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loadedinto and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomesan apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case ofprogram code execution on programmable computers, the computing devicemay include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor(including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), atleast one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile andnon-volatile memory and/or storage elements may be a random-accessmemory (RAM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), flashdrive, optical drive, magnetic hard drive, solid state drive, or othermedium for storing electronic data. The node and wireless device mayalso include a transceiver module (i.e., transceiver), a counter module(i.e., counter), a processing module (i.e., processor), and/or a clockmodule (i.e., clock) or timer module (i.e., timer). In one example,selected components of the transceiver module can be located in a cloudradio access network (C-RAN). One or more programs that may implement orutilize the various techniques described herein may use an applicationprogramming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Suchprograms may be implemented in a high level procedural or objectoriented programming language to communicate with a computer system.However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machinelanguage, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled orinterpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware.

It should be understood that many of the functional units described inthis specification have been labeled as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising customvery-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. An identified module of executable code may, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identifiedmodule may not be physically located together, but may comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joinedlogically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purposefor the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different storage devices, and may exist, atleast partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.The modules may be passive or active, including agents operable toperform desired functions.

Reference throughout this specification to “an example” or “exemplary”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present technology. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in an example”or the word “exemplary” in various places throughout this specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositionalelements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list forconvenience. However, these lists should be construed as though eachmember of the list is individually identified as a separate and uniquemember. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as ade facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based ontheir presentation in a common group without indications to thecontrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the presenttechnology may be referred to herein along with alternatives for thevarious components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments,examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as defactoequivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate andautonomous representations of the present technology.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided, such asexamples of layouts, distances, network examples, etc., to provide athorough understanding of embodiments of the technology. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that the technology can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, layouts, etc. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obscuring aspects of the technology.

While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of thepresent technology in one or more particular applications, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerousmodifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be madewithout the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing fromthe principles and concepts of the technology. Accordingly, it is notintended that the technology be limited, except as by the claims setforth below.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), operableto generate an enhanced buffer status report (eBSR), the apparatuscomprising: one or more processors configured to: identify packets foruplink transmission; filter the packets for uplink transmission, toidentify a number of small packets pending for transmission and a numberof larger packets, relative to the small packets, that are pending fortransmission in the uplink transmission; and encode the eBSR fortransmission to a next generation node B (gNB), wherein the eBSRincludes information identifying the number of small packets pending fortransmission, wherein the eBSR includes a count value, wherein the countvalue includes a total size of the number of small packets pending fortransmission, wherein the total size is the size of two or more pendingsmall packets added together; and a memory interface configured to sendto a memory the number of small packets pending for transmission.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to filter the packets for uplink transmission to identifytransmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement (ACK) packets in thepackets for uplink transmission.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to filter the packetsfor uplink transmission to identify packets with a packet size less thanX bytes as the small packets that are pending for transmission in theuplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greater than
 0. 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to encode the eBSR for transmission to the gNB wherein theeBSR includes a logic channel group (LCG) identification (ID) and thecount value, wherein the count value includes: a number of packets witha packet size less than X bytes as the small packets that are pendingfor transmission in the uplink transmission, wherein X is an integergreater than
 0. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to decode from the gNB a reportingmethod for the eBSR, wherein the reporting method comprises one or moreof the total size or the number of packets.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the one or more processors are further configured to decode anuplink (UL) grant received from the gNB, wherein a size of the UL grantand a frequency of the UL grant are determined by the gNB based on theinformation in the eBSR to identify the number of small packets pendingfor transmission.
 7. A method for a user equipment (UE) to generate anenhanced buffer status report (eBSR), the method comprising: identifyingpackets for uplink transmission; filtering the packets for uplinktransmission, to identify a number of small packets pending fortransmission and a number of larger packets, relative to the smallpackets, that are pending for transmission in the uplink transmission;and encoding the eBSR for transmission to a next generation node B(gNB), wherein the eBSR includes information identifying the number ofsmall packets pending for transmission, wherein the eBSR includes acount value, wherein the count value includes a total size of the numberof small packets pending for transmission, wherein the total size is thesize of two or more pending small packets added together; and sending toa memory the number of small packets pending for transmission.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising filtering the packets for uplinktransmission to identify transmission control protocol (TCP)acknowledgement (ACK) packets in the packets for uplink transmission. 9.The method of claim 7, further comprising filtering the packets foruplink transmission to identify packets with a packet size less than Xbytes as the small packets that are pending for transmission in theuplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greater than
 0. 10. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising encoding the eBSR for transmissionto the gNB wherein the eBSR includes a logic channel group (LCG)identification (ID) and the count value, wherein the count valueincludes: a number of packets with a packet size less than X bytes asthe small packets that are pending for transmission in the uplinktransmission, wherein X is an integer greater than
 0. 11. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising decoding from the gNB a reporting methodfor the eBSR, wherein the reporting method comprises one or more of thetotal size or the number of packets.
 12. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising decoding an uplink (UL) grant received from the gNB, whereina size of the UL grant and a frequency of the UL grant are determined bythe gNB based on the information in the eBSR to identify the number ofsmall packets pending for transmission.
 13. At least one non-transitorymachine readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that,when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), causethe one or more processors to: identify packets for uplink transmission;filter the packets for uplink transmission, to identify a number ofsmall packets pending for transmission and a number of larger packets,relative to the small packets, that are pending for transmission in theuplink transmission; and encode the eBSR for transmission to a nextgeneration node B (gNB), wherein the eBSR includes informationidentifying the number of small packets pending for transmission,wherein the eBSR includes a logic channel group (LCG) identification(ID) and a count value, wherein the count value includes a total size ofthe number of small packets pending for transmission, wherein the totalsize is the size of two or more pending small packets added together;and send to a memory the number of small packets pending fortransmission.
 14. The at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause theone or more processors to filter the packets for uplink transmission toidentify transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement (ACK)packets in the packets for uplink transmission.
 15. The at least onenon-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein theinstructions further cause the one or more processors to filter thepackets for uplink transmission to identify packets with a packet sizeless than X bytes as the small packets that are pending for transmissionin the uplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greater than
 0. 16.The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim13, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors toencode the eBSR for transmission to the gNB wherein the eBSR includes alogic channel group (LCG) identification (ID) and the count value,wherein the count value includes: a number of packets with a packet sizeless than X bytes as the small packets that are pending for transmissionin the uplink transmission, wherein X is an integer greater than
 0. 17.The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim16, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors todecode from the gNB a reporting method for the eBSR, wherein thereporting method comprises one or more of the total size or the numberof packets.
 18. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the one ormore processors to decode an uplink (UL) grant received from the gNB,wherein a size of the UL grant and a frequency of the UL grant aredetermined by the gNB based on the information in the eBSR to identifythe number of small packets pending for transmission.